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Writer's pictureDaniel Paice

Using Voice-to-text Dictation for Professional or Academic Writing

By now, you'll know that I discuss voice-to-text dictation a lot on here, because it is a technique that I am fascinated by. Both because it is a very useful technique, and the fact that I wish that I had discovered it for myself sooner; realising how useful it could be.


Personal use and creative writing


Previously, I have discussed how I use voice-to-text dictation for my creative writing — and how that is improved and developed my process — and the way that it is benefited my creative output.


As part of my research into how I can streamline this process, I've come across people who use dictation on a more personal basis — such as sending emails and texts on their phone. In doing so, it makes things much easier for them because it's much quicker and efficient. Needless to say, it is much more natural to speak when communicating, and that efficiency may mean that we can be more productive, and we can be more efficient with work on a professional basis.

On a personal basis, it is not always possible to send a voice message. I have also discussed how some people may decide this is lazy, or coming across as though someone does not care — does not want to put effort into their communication — but from an accessibility point of view, it allows me to hone my energies and my resources into what matters. For me, communication matters: if I'm sending an email or text message, I want to make sure that my words are effective in conveying what needs to be said, but I don't want to be spend in too much energy only to take away from actually thinking about it. The exact same thing could be said with the creative writing side of things.


Using dictation on a professional basis


Interestingly, it is common practice for doctors and lawyers, who write up notes and reports using voice-to-text dictation (or other types of dictation) — allowing them to streamline their process and focus on spending more time with their clients and patients. The basic principle of this is that it allows you to type effectively, but spend less time doing so, which then can increase the speed and efficiency of how we work.


Using dictation in academic writing


As my interest in — and use — of voice-to-text dictation has increased, I have used it more and more across my various types of writing. As you will have seen, that also includes my academic writing.

Going back to making writing more accessible, being able to articulate my ideas and thoughts verbally allows me to spend less energy on physically getting the thoughts down, so that I can spend more time and energy on articulating these ideas. But in doing so, it does not sacrifice the quality of my essays or writing.


I would only use the voice-to-text dictation for a first draft, because there is a lot of editing that needs to be done, but it allows me to get everything down — and once I have that, then I can organise it.

It also means that when I'm editing, for example, and I find that a particular paragraph needs a lot more development, than I can just start talking to myself through the dictation. I can make substantial additions to essays without too much physical effort. As you can see — as with all types of dictation — it is about streamlining the process so that I can focus on what matters. In the case of academic writing, this is being able to convey my thoughts and ideas about a particular topic, and draw links and come to conclusions within that. If I'm having to focus on my fingers moving over the correct keys on the keyboard, it can sometimes take away from my thoughts and articulation. It is not necessarily a big difference between my typing and using voice-to-text dictation (especially over shorter periods of writing), but if it's something that makes my life easier, then it is something that I'm going to do. Especially if it is not going to sacrifice the quality of my work.

That said, the voice-to-text software literally records what you say (and, depending on the software, not with the greatest degree of accuracy), so if you don't necessarily talk in an academic manner, it can mean that there will be more editing in order to make it sound more academic. Which, in some cases, could lose you marks, if your writing doesn't sound as academic as possible. Then again, that is where the editing comes in; you edit your sentences so that they flow nicely, and are appropriate for the purpose of the text. Again, the aim of dictation is to get your main ideas down. The editing process is where we make sure it is as perfect as possible.


In the case of people feeling that they do not speak in a way that is expected of academic writing, it is worth creating a plan, so that know exactly what you're going to write. And if your tone is particularly of an issue to you, perhaps as part of that plan, you could write down some particular phrases such as, ‘in conclusion’, and ‘which links to’, as part of your plan. These examples are fairly standard, but you get the idea of reminding yourself of certain phrases you would otherwise type into your essay. That way, if you can prompt yourself, less content editing will be necessary. It is all about finding how dictation works for you, and any strengths and weaknesses within the process.

For example, I find it easy enough to say what I want to say with the dictation, but I find it hard to organise my thoughts in a coherent way that is vital for an essay. So, in order to combat this, I need to have a plan that tells me when I'm writing something, and how it links to a previous point. This makes sure that I maintain flow, but also means that there is less content editing. Therefore, meaning that I can focus on sentence structure, flow, and being precise in my meaning. Personally, I find that once I get into the academic mindset, the way that I think and speak, so therefore there is less editing of tone and syntax needed in my case (that is not to say that it's never needed).


You can see that I have put professional and academic together, despite explaining them as two separate entities. This is because, ultimately, the two areas are conditioned so that we are writing for a specific purpose and audience. In both cases, you have to look at the information objectively without inserting your opinion. In some cases you can insert your opinion, but even then that has to be done professionally or academically. This is in stark contrast to creative writing or personal writing, where a writer can insert their opinion — either indirectly or directly — wherever they choose. This issue with the disparatory between the way that people write and the way that people speak puts them off using voice-to-text dictation for professional and academic writing. However, dictation is only really used for a first draft, so I just want to highlight the fact that dictation is — at its core — a way to speed up getting your thoughts onto paper and organising your ideas. You clean them up later.


Keep going, and see what works for you.


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